Conventionally disclosed methods relating to such technique for support operations by detecting user states include a method for supporting operations by preparing, in advance, operation patterns occurring in confused states such as “Object undecided” and “Function selection impossible” as data for detecting user states, extracting a confused state candidate based on the operation pattern information, and providing operation support suitable for the confused states (refer to Patent Reference 1). FIG. 26 shows a technique for supporting an operation by detecting a confused state as seen conventionally disclosed in Patent Reference 1.
In FIG. 26, a dwell time threshold for detecting that confusion has occurred is defined in advance, for each display screen, as Absence-of-operation judgment time data 2505. In the case where a dwell time exceeding the threshold (Absence-of-operation state) occurs, a possible confused state candidate is extracted in a user state detection process 2503. In the user state detection process 2503, a confusion candidate is extracted by searching for an operation pattern corresponding to the confusion defined in data for detecting user states 2507 using right truncation. In a support function selection process 2504, a user is guided to present and select a support method suitable for the candidate, and the support suitable for the confused state of the user is provided. The operation patterns used at this time as the data for detecting user states 2507 are not a mere input action sequence but information indicating an operation time classified as short, normal, or long.
The conventional disclosure also includes a facsimile having a feature of judging that a user is confused when there is no input for a predetermined time, and asking the user if a menu structure needs to be printed.    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-154057    Patent Reference 2: Japanese Patent No. 2576407